OK, how about a real review. Sonic Gems Collection is an excellent mix of mostly mediocre games. Sonic cd is very good, and I give praise to Sonic R surprisingly, but the rest of the games are oddly bland, and only one or two playthroughs will fill your needs. it is a bit depressing that Streets of Rage was not included for the U.S. version, but with importing, or not living in the U.S.,OK, how about a real review. Sonic Gems Collection is an excellent mix of mostly mediocre games. Sonic cd is very good, and I give praise to Sonic R surprisingly, but the rest of the games are oddly bland, and only one or two playthroughs will fill your needs. it is a bit depressing that Streets of Rage was not included for the U.S. version, but with importing, or not living in the U.S., you can enjoy the Streets of Rage games, which are better than a large portion of the games on "Gems." But whether the games are bad or good, I also tend to support compilation discs, which tend to be cheap and very nostalgic.…Collapse

This is a good compilation pack. Not only does it include Sonic CD, which is one of the greatest sonic games of all time, it also includes the rare and unusual sonic the fighters, and Sonic R. It also includes some great sonic GameGear games. This compilation is worth it alone for Sonic CD, and Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters are more interesting to play because of how rare and unusual theyThis is a good compilation pack. Not only does it include Sonic CD, which is one of the greatest sonic games of all time, it also includes the rare and unusual sonic the fighters, and Sonic R. It also includes some great sonic GameGear games. This compilation is worth it alone for Sonic CD, and Sonic R and Sonic the Fighters are more interesting to play because of how rare and unusual they are. the game gear titles are a nice touch as well. this compilation also includes digital manuals for each of the games as well. This is an interesting and great compilation, which i would reccomend to any sonic fan looking for some, while not neccessarily good, but interesting and rare titles like Sonic r and the fighters, and any sonic fan who hasnt yet experienced the wonder that is sonic CD. You can also unlock some great genesis games as well, but thats up to you do find out about. no spoilers :P…Expand

This game is worth it to play Sonic CD, Sonic R, and some Tails games.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD: One of the best Sonic games. Traveling to the future, present, then the past is a good way to get hundreds of rings for lives. The Special Zones is quite the challenge but not as hard as the ones in Sonic 2. Some bosses have you risk losing rings when attempting to jump into them. Amy is of theThis game is worth it to play Sonic CD, Sonic R, and some Tails games.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD: One of the best Sonic games. Traveling to the future, present, then the past is a good way to get hundreds of rings for lives. The Special Zones is quite the challenge but not as hard as the ones in Sonic 2. Some bosses have you risk losing rings when attempting to jump into them. Amy is of the characters I like. The cutscenes are, in fact, full motion video. It doesn't use borders like other Sega CD games, cutscenes in Sonic CD in this version is full screen and use hand drawn animation.

Sonic R: The steering is just as slippery as in Super Mario Kart. The D-pad works best only in straight courses. But, shoulder buttons are used in the game--that can help make your turning more sharp like in F-Zero. When getting the Chaos Emeralds, you have to come in first place. The analog is the worst thing to use in the game because Up is the accelerate button, you might accidentally tilt up when trying steer. Finding the S icons doesn't require you finish in first place but you have a time limit to finish the race. Playing as Super Sonic in Radiant Emerald is the best part in the game. If you can handle this game tasks and control, you have no trouble at all.

Sonic the Fighters: Repetitive as this game gets, as least you get infinite continues, a movelist in the pause screen.

Tails Skypatrol: Gamers had trouble trying to play this Japanese exclusive Game Gear game. That's the gamers problem, not the game. I played this game and I made it through with some ease and no problem. These gamers are so afraid of touching walls and ceilings because touching them will cost you a life. Using either the analog or D-pad is up to you. The best way of getting lives is to really start hitting your enemies and even projectiles with your ring. Use that as your advantage throughout the game. Keep hitting your bosses with the ring while your target is far because that'll slow them down while you're flying close to them. Give this game a chance. If you are good at this game, you can probably beat it in less than 20 minutes. It's best to play to this before Tails Adventure to use up your spare time.

Sonic Gems is a good investment for worth noting games and some goods. 8/10…Expand

(This is mostly a Sonic R review)
"Speed demons and blistering circuits make this one of the craziest races ever!"
I ordered a copy of Sonic Gems Collection and it came in the mail today. I already owned Sonic CD on PC & PS3 and Sonic the Fighters on PS3, so there was really one game(and a few Game Gear and Genesis games) I bought this for.
It’s Sonic R.
I’ve heard a lot of(This is mostly a Sonic R review)
"Speed demons and blistering circuits make this one of the craziest races ever!"

I ordered a copy of Sonic Gems Collection and it came in the mail today. I already owned Sonic CD on PC & PS3 and Sonic the Fighters on PS3, so there was really one game(and a few Game Gear and Genesis games) I bought this for.

It’s Sonic R.

I’ve heard a lot of stories about Sonic R. The poor controls, the Tails Doll, and that annoying, yet enjoyable, soundtrack by Richard Jacques & TJ Davis. I’ve always wanted to play it, and now thanks to #Youtubemoney, dawg, I finally got to experience the great that is, Sonic R.

Oh **** where to begin…
The graphics have not aged well, but they must’ve looked great for the Sega Saturn(especially since my Wii supports component cables for my GameCube games).

The character selection is also pretty good, all 3 sonic characters, Eggman, Metal Sonic , and a batnik from Sonic 3K.

The controls are very awkward. I’m talking about the GameCube version. You accelerate with B or X and you can jump with the A button. The L & R triggers can help you turn more sharp, but don’t be surprised if you keep bumping into walls. I usually just hold the B button and turn with the L & R triggers, but I always tilt the analog stick in case to make the turn better.

There are only 5 race tracks, and it’s easy to loose track on where you’re going. Not even the maps can help you find where you are. It’s obvious they put a lot of hard work in these tracks, but it’s pretty frustrating at points.

The music, well, doesn't fit at all. It’s not really something you’d listen to when you’re in the mood to race. But, on its own, I kinda like the soundtrack. It’s a guilty pleasure for me and I could see why people would find it annoying.
(BTW: If you’re irritated by the lyrics, you can turn them off in the options menu.)

This version of the game in Gems Collection is actually the PC version, but the game doesn’t really tell you that. In the options menu, there’s a “Weather” option and you can make it Snowy, Clear, or Random. It was only exclusive to the PC version, so it’s pretty cool that the Gems Collection has this option. It shows off how pretty this game can look at points. It certainly makes Regal Ruin look less bland…

Also, the Campaign mode can be beaten pretty easily. Seriously, you should be able to unlock everything in about a half an hour or less…
I didn’t even bother with the campaign mode, I just downloaded a 100% save file off GameFAQs.(Thank you user: console_general)

Anyways, Sonic R is a mixed bag. In some ways, it’s decent. In some ways it’s, at most, a guilty pleasure for Sonic fans like me. It sucks, but that’s kinda why we play it. The game can support up to 4 players,so you and 3 other friends can sit down and just enjoy laughing that this game.

I’m glad I bought Sonic Gems Collection for this game. It is the only Sega Saturn game Sonic had(Sonic Jam doesn’t really count). In fact, this game was made so that fans could occupy themselves until “Sonic Xtreme” came out. (take a guess what happened…)

I recommend Sonic R, but only to Sonic fans who haven’t played it yet. It was not as bad as I heard it was, but it’s a still pretty mediocre, but fun.
Plus, with Sonic Gems Collection, you’ll have more games to play.

Everyone will be “Super Sonic Racing”.
You’ll definitely “Feel The Sunshine”.
It’ll send you “Back In Time” to 1997.
You’ll “Work It Out” with your friends.
Maybe you’ll think it’s a “Diamond In The Sky”.
But it really depends if you’re “Living In The City” or not…

I mostly play this game for Sonic the Fighters, Sonic CD, Tails' Adventure, and to see the gallery. This game is good, although not as good as Mega Collection that came before it, and only Sonic fans should really buy it.

Long as it keeps going with Sonic the Fighters, SOnic CD, and Sonic R, I am ok. Overall, if you're a Sonic fan, this one is a good investment, lacks a lot of his greats, but for the hidden gems, I like it.

Sonic Gems Collection for the gamecube and ps2 is a surprisingly fun collection of retro sonic games. It includes games such as Sonic the Fighters (arcade) and Sonic Triple Trouble (gamegear). A must have for Sonic fans.

If it wasn't for the fantastic Sonic CD this would be a major disappointment. Sonic the Fighters has aged horrifically, lacks depth and is very limited in game-play. Sonic R is a racing game that is very short and has horrible controls. Luckily Sonic CD is really, really good and captures that vintage sonic vibe perfectly.

Sonic gems collection is a game worth buying , it has tons of good sonic titles and a nice gallery. But this collection has things which are not worth unlocking and some if it!0's games can be pretty boring. Overall it's a game worth buying if you like sonic

In other words, if this sort of thing matters to you, if you still can't bear to unplug your Dreamcast, and you do own "Virtua Fighter 4" and all the others and think they're brilliant, this is for you.